Chai time buddies!

The other day I caught up with my best buddy, Meenakshi at her Mayur Vihar residence and the first word that we uttered simultaneously was chai. You guessed it right, we prefer having a steaming cup of tea between us do all the talking before we actually start to pour our hearts out to each other.

This rush of nostalgia dates back to our college days when our group of friends couldn’t wait to be at Meenakshi’s place for her special malai wali chai after our classes get over.

From that time till now, the significance of chai in my life has ceased to diminish. In my workplace too, I have my chai buddies and strangely I find myself sharing my innermost secrets with them over a cup of tea. Sometimes, I feel there is some sort of mental connection that tea-lovers share between them.

Amidst all the hullabaloo of our mundane life, when everything around us goes wrong, having a chat with your dear friend makes everything seem perfect. Just like that one-cup of tea that cures your splitting headache when you have to work on an important assignment.

Life-teaI remember telling my colleague about a life philosophy that I have derived from chai. Our life without friends is like boiling water. Hot, tasteless and boring. True friends are like tealeaves that do not hesitate to criticise you and at the same time bring flavour to your life. The ones in your social circle that gossip with you are the milk content and the people who admire you or say good things about you add sugar to your life.

People crave for this perfect proportion in their ‘life-tea,’ but it’s hardly achievable. As for me, I do have my share of true friends that bring flavour to my life but not the other content. So, I like my ‘life-tea’ black.

Sometimes I make a ‘green’ tea of my life by writing poetry and stories in my free time. Believe me, it has a soothing effect. My life-tea may be black, but I like lots of milk and a little sugar in my ‘real’ tea.

Somehow, all the people who have inspired me in some way or the other are tea lovers. Be it my mother, father, my favourite college lecturer Deepa Sharma, or my closest friends… The list can go on and on.

So, what is it that is common among tea-lovers? I think it is the simplicity that is intrinsic in our personality that helps us connect over tea. Or is it just an addiction? It’s the matter of perception of an individual. As for me, just the way I am loyal to that cup of tea, I like to be loyal to all my near and dear ones.